The Adventurers Club

Jessica Alba Loves Carl Butcher

Just fooling around with some Mac software I received for Christmas. This "page" took less than five minutes and just touches a fraction of what this software can do. Simple word balloon text and placement took me FOREVER in Carl Butcher Part One because I had to do it all from scratch.

Stretchable and resizeable word balloons, panels of unlimited size and shape, stretchable and resizeable text. This software is a comic geeks dream.

I think we need to re-do and republish the web comics as downloadable PDF's. What do you think?

I'm going to have fun.

'til Jessica calls for her copy of the script

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Rockin' for the Geezers

I was sitting in the dining room working on the Mac when Lori called from the den.

"Bart is on TV."

"Bart?" I walk into the den to see what she is talking about.

"Heart is on TV."

Oh, Heart. I thought she was talking about Bart Simpson, not Ann and Nancy Wilson.

I sat down as Heart was running through a string of Led Zeppelin songs.

Lori turns to me. "You know you're getting old when your favorite bands show up on PBS."

OUCH.

'til Ann and Nancy meet me at the old folks home

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Cache (not Cash)

Spent portions of the last two days cleaning up, repairing and refurbishing my Geocaches. For the majority of you that have no idea what I'm talking about, Geocaching is a game (sport?) where you use a GPS to locate a hidden container in the woods (forest). When you find it, you sign the log and move on to hunt the next one.

I have always loved hiking in the woods. I discovered miles of trails in Charlotte I had no idea existed due to hunting Geocaches. I also have had a lot of fun creating puzzles for others to solve.

The truth is, the hiding has always been my favorite part of the game. I actually no longer hunt caches hidden by others. Too many poorly hidden, never maintained, tupperware hidden under a stump caches, turned me off to the hunting part.

Nowadays I do my best to keep mine refreshed and I have a number of caches that are either at the five year mark or are very close. I'm also the current owner of the oldest Geocache in North Carolina (Octopus Garden) and one of the thirty oldest active caches(112th hidden) in the entire world. There are over two hundred thousand caches in two hundred and nineteen countries, so that's quite a feat.

One of my favorite creations is "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark". It requires you to hunt at night and uses a "light trail" to lead you through the forest. The light trail consists of luminescent tacks placed on trees and requires a good flashlight to find the cache.

The Don't Be Afraid light trail

Another favorite is "Mystery of the Birkhead Ghosts" which is based on the Three Investigators Mystery series and requires a four mile hike in one of my favorite wilderness areas, Birkhead Wilderness in the Uwharrie National Forest.

Birkhead Ghosts doesn't get a lot of traffic because the truth is Geocaching has a lot of weenies. Folks that have no business being in the woods, people that can't follow directions and people that can't put a lid back on a cache when they do find it.

Since Birkhead is a puzzle cache and requires a hike, most of these folks never get anywhere near it.

Sadly they all seem to find "Lara's Tomb", which is the first Geocache I placed back in 2001. They leave the lid off, move the cache, fill it full of garbage, remove the logbook and do everything you shouldn't do. Lara's Tomb is an easy cache. You really don't have to do much of anything but walk a half mile down a casual trail. Because this is my first hide, I'm rather fond of it, but the cache rookies almost make me want to close it down.

Virtual caches also solve the "rookie" problem. They have no container and no logbook. They require you to visit a location and send proof of your visit. I have two virtual caches, "The Wind Blows Through Time" in Blowing Rock and "Crockett's Wilderness Adventure" near the Wilderness Lodge in Disney World. "Wind Blows Through Time" has been a perfect no-trouble cache, but "Crockett's" has caused some pain because Disney kept closing and reworking the nature trail. I eventually changed the route and thus far it seems to be working.

My most difficult cache is "Hunting for Hidden Gold". It requires a lot of bushwhacking and during the summer this means lots of spiderwebs in your face and wading through (or around) fields of poison ivy. To solve this cache you must earn it. That also means a lot of rookies whine about it. "It's too hard, it was way off the trail." I guess I'm just a hard-ass, I have no sympathy. There are lots of easy caches, go hunt those.

If you received a new GPS for Christmas, there is no better way to learn how to use it.

'til the whiners learn to play the game

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Goofing Off

Vacation continues and we pretty much just goofed off today.

We needed to break the kids away from the video games for a bit before they turned into zombies. So we went to see Legend of Zorro, which is actually a little better than I expected. If you missed it (most did) this is a sequel to Mask of Zorro and stars Antonio Banderas as the man who puts his auotograph on the bad guys with his sword. Catherine Zeta-Jones is Zorro's wife and partner in fighting crime.

In this movie Zorro and wife have a son. Wife decides to do what's best for their child. That means Zorro needs to retire. That of course leads to all kinds of conflict between husband and wife including her going over to the dark side. You'll have to watch the film to see how that turns out.

There was a lot of action, including CZ-J in some pretty intense fight scenes, but less humor than one would expect. The horse gets all the comic bits, which I thought was kind of odd, but it seemed to work.

For fans of the original Guy Williams Zorro, you will miss the humor. That was one of the things that made the Disney series special.

I do have my doubts that the push-up bra Catherine Zeta-Jones was wearing existed in the 1850's. Not that I'm complaining.

Warning if you take the kids to see Zorro, it's fairly violent for a PG movie (same warning for Chronicles of Narnia).

This afternoon Lori and I put a jigsaw puzzle together. I think this is the first "adult size" puzzle I have ever put together in my entire life. This was only 529 pieces, so I have no idea how the people do the really big ones.

Towards the end I couldn't even read the tiny print on the pieces anymore. I gave that task to Lori.

Once we got down to the last 30 or so pieces, we just ignored what was printed on the piece and just test fit them all. I'm sure if any of you out there are jigsaw masters you are cringing, but hey we finished the darn thing.

In all his glory, here's Donald:

I don't think I'll add jigsaw to my list of hobbies.

'til the puzzle saver coat dries (no way I'm taking this thing apart)

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Resting

Christmas was fun. The kids had a blast and everyone is tired, even the tigers.

Hope yours was fun too!

'til I get a nap

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Merry Krimble

This is for everyone who thinks I was overly critical of the Fab Four's holiday tunes.

'til Yoko just goes away

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

There is Only One

The Indianapolis Colts join the long line of pretenders attempting to make a run at the Miami Dolphins record as the only undefeated team in NFL history.

There has been a lot of talk about how the Colts going 19-0 would eclipse the Dolphins record.

What most of those people forgot is you actually have to win the games first and that's a very hard thing to do. Just ask Peyton Manning after he was manhandled by the Chargers this afternoon. The Dolphins had tough games too. The difference is they won those games. All of them. They found ways to win every week and they did it as a team.

Jim Kiick, Larry Csonka, Mercury Morris

They were called the no-names, but they had the number one offense and number one defense in the NFL.

They were: Bob Griese, Earl Morrall, Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, Larry Little, Jim Langer, Mercury Morris, Jake Scott, Dick Anderson, Nick Buoniconti, Garo Yepremian, Larry Seiple, Doug Swift, Bob Matheson, Bob Kuechenberg, Howard Twilley, Manny Fernandez, Marv Fleming, Norm Evans, Marlin Briscoe, Jim Mandich, Bill Stanfill, Tim Foley, Curtis Johnson, Wayne Moore, Larry Ball, Mike Kolen, Vern Den Herder, Hubert Ginn and Bob Heinz .

'til next year when another team tries (and fails)

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Happy Krimble, Warts and Clover

As I have mentioned in the past, I am a huge Beatles fan.

And I'm a sucker for Christmas music.

It saddens me to say that the holiday output of the Fab Four is beyond dismal.

During the sixties, John, Paul, George and Ringo released a series of Christmas records that were sent to the fan club. These came out each year from 1963 to 1969.

If you've never heard them, they mostly consist of messages from the band:

"Hello, this is John speaking with his voice. We're all very happy to be talking to you on this little bit of plastic. This record reaches you at the end of a really gear year for us and it's all due to you."

What little music there was, consisted of off-tune renditions of songs such as Good King Wencelas.

One of the Christmas records contained an original tune, Christmas Time (is Here Again). It's not a great song and obviously realizing this, the Fab Four broke it up into pieces interspersed with bits of dialog. When the Beatles Anthology came out the song was issued in it's entirety as a bonus track on the Free as a Bird single. Listening to the complete song, which primarily exists of the band singing "Christmas Time is here Again" over and over while Ringo inserts random (and odd) lines such as "O U T spells Out", is quite painful. I don't recommend it.

In 1970 after the Beatles broke up, all of the Christmas singles were combined into an album and once again sent to the fan club. Never officially released to the public, it is available as a bootleg. It can be fun to listen to; at least the first half or so. On the latter part of the album it is obvious the band is falling apart. No longer are the Christmas messages recorded as a group, they are now recorded separately by each band member (and Yoko) and the ad-libbed humor that made the early years listenable is gone.

The first "official" Christmas song by a Beatle was released by John. Happy Christmas (War is Over) still gets quite a bit of airplay and a few people even consider it a classic. Despite the message (which I really love), I find the song mostly unlistenable due to Yoko warbling the "War is Over" chorus. Delete Yoko's part and reissue the song and you have a great song. Jimmy Buffet cut his own version (sans Yoko) and it is infinitely more listenable, though I think Jimmy was off that day and the energy on Buffet's version is really low.

George came next with his holiday ditty Ding Dong. What, you've never heard it? I suspect not, it's a real dog which is strange since it is the only Christmas song by any Beatle to chart.  Neither John, Paul or Ringo ever made the top 100 with their offerings. Despite it's brief chart run, most have forgotten it and deservedly so. The lyrics "Ring out the old, Ring in the new, Ding Dong, Ding Dong" aren't exactly memorable.

Paul came next with that pop confection Wonderful Christmastime. Note, there is sarcasm in that statement. This is another pretty dreary song that once again (like John's) gets quite a bit of airplay during the December months. Lately it has even garnered a few cover versions. Pop Idols Hilary Duff and Jump 5 both have cut new versions in the last three years. Hilary significantly sped up the track and added lots of rock guitar, improving the song immensely. Sorry Paul, the little blonde girl scooped you on your own song.

Lastly Ringo entered the mix with an entire album of Christmas tunes, I Wanna Be Santa Claus. I like Ringo and a Christmas album is right up his alley. Which is why the fact that this album is just plain lousy is so disappointing. Ringo even bothers to cover the awful Christmas Time (is Here Again) and he added some additional lyrics, which didn't dramatically improve the song. There's not much else to recommend the album and despite being reissued a couple of times under different covers, it never has found an audience outside of Beatles completists like me.

Oddly enough, the band that was created in response to the Beatles (The Monkees), has fared much better at holiday time. Riu Chiu, which was featured in the Christmas episode of the TV show and appears on two different compilations, is a beautiful a capella rendition of the Italian Christmas Carol. Even the original track Christmas is My Time of Year, recorded by Mickey and Davy, bests anything the Fab Four was able to come up with.

After all this, if you still have a longing for Beatles Christmas music, I recommend a CD by The Fab Four. The Fab Four are a tribute band and they do a nice job of creating Christmas songs that could have been done by the Beatles in '64 or '65. They have released two cd's of Beatles sounding Christmas songs. One of my favorites is Hark the herald Angels Sing sung to the tune of Help.

So there you have it. Rocks most important band and some of the worst holiday music ever recorded.

Stick with the Chipmunks, you'll thank me.

'til Yoko gets laryngitis

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Counting Down to Christmas

Because I know you have a huge desire for this information, I thought I would post the Top 40 Christmas songs as determined by iTunes.

Yes, these are the biggest Christmas hits as determined by what really counts - people willing to shell out cash to buy them.

Note some of the "artists" are shortchanged a little. Alvin and the Chipmunks appear multiple times in the lower reaches of the chart with The Chipmunk Song. This is due to the fact you can purchase the song from a variety of different albums. iTunes does not combine sales of the same song from all of the various albums when compiling their charts. Therefore, Alvin and the Chipmunks are denied their rightful place in the Top Ten.

I have no explanation why Jessica Simpleton is on the chart at all (or why Mariah Scarey is number one).

I've also got to wonder, what is Britney's wish? That she would have gotten a better prenup?

You're a Mean One Mr Grinch is actually sung by Thurl (Tony the Tiger) Ravenscroft, but don't write iTunes asking them to correct it. I used to send them corrections, until I realized they never actually made them. Updating their database errors is not one of their strong points. For Grinch historians that want to know, Boris Karloff narrates How the Grinch Stole Christmas, he does not sing the song.

Convoy has yet to make the chart, but I'll be looking for it.

'til Mariah Scarey is replaced by three furry rodents  (or The Chipettes).

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Welcome Milo

The newest addition to our household - Milo.

Named after Milo Bloom, the character from Bloom County.

He practically lives in our Christmas Tree.

'til all the ornaments are cat toys

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Showing My (Apple) Age Part ][

From the same box of old Apple stuff.

A boot disk featuring the Apple Dos 3.3 System master.

And a Blank never-used diskette. 140K of free space (whoo hoo, extra hoo!)

Apple Floppy Diskette

'til I throw more cool and dusty Apple stuff at ya

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Showing My (Apple) Age

While getting Christmas decorations down a couple of weeks ago, I came across a box of old Apple software and manuals from my first computer - an Apple ][ plus.

These stickers were made to label your Apple sixteen sector disks. These were of course "better" than the old thirteen sector disks. The sixteen sector disks held a whopping 140K of data!

I stuck a few of these on my not-sixteen-sector Powerbook, just because they're old and they look cool. Now everyone that sees them asks, what does the 16 mean?

Only us old geeks know.

'til your iPod is as old as my Apple DOS boot disk

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Santa's Lost Toy Bag

I wrote this story a while back as an intro to one of my Geocaches.

I never cared for the typical "You are looking for a tupperware under a stump."

Therefore my caches tend to be "different."

-----------------------------------------------

Wind whipped across the sleigh, rocking it back and forth. Soon the turbulence worsened and the sled plunged toward the earth. Now, completely out of control, the red vehicle shuddered, until a small sack tumbled into the forest below. Clipping the trees the sleigh dumped its passenger, just before crashing to earth. The large man in the red and white suit found himself unharmed but caught high in the branches of a very tall tree. Down on the forest floor nine majestic beasts of burden gathered around the mighty oak and stared upward.

"Sorry fellas, I'm stuck but good.” The man shifted his position and the branch he was sitting on swayed precariously. “I don't know how I'm going to get down. It looks like these last deliveries might be a little late."

Just then a light cut through the gloom, shining up at the man. "Can I be of some assistance?" a voice asked.

He squinted in the glare of the light, barely able to discern a woman standing at the base of the tree. "I'm not sure what you're doing out here young lady, but I'm not going to turn down a helping hand," the man replied.

A rope arced up into the tree, quickly followed by the most agile person the man had ever seen. "Hang on, I'm stronger than I look," she said. Within a minute she appeared on a branch beneath the stranded traveler. Despite the darkness she wore sunglasses. A tight black bodysuit hugged her shape leaving little to the imagination and the cool night air highlighted her figure in such a way that the man didn’t even notice the pair of pistols strapped to her hips.

She deftly tied a series of knots and dropped a length of rope to the forest below. Grabbing the branch above her, she pulled herself upward to face the man. “You’re going to have to trust me. Climb on my back and I’ll lower us to the ground.”

The man latched onto the mysterious rescuer and they descended to the earth. Upon reaching the ground she snapped the rope and it tumbled from the sky. She coiled it quickly and placed it in the small leather pack on her back. Without hesitating she brushed herself off and turned back towards the forest. "Sorry to run, I must be going. There's adventure afoot and I hadn't counted on this tonight."

The man look puzzled as he stroked his white beard and then the light of recognition shone in his eyes. "Hey wait, I know you. The year all the little girls asked for a Barbie dream house, you wanted a fancy compass."

The woman reached into her pocket and removed a well-worn brass disk, hanging on a length of nylon cord. She glanced at the instrument, smiled and pocketed it before turning once again towards the forest. "Thanks for understanding. This fancy toy has saved me more than once." As she entered the gloom, the woman stopped, turned and winked, before disappearing into the dark.

The man climbed aboard the unusual vehicle, positioning himself on the red leather seat and with a wave of his hand the large beasts rose into the air pulling the sleigh after them. "Hey Rudy, wasn't her name Lara?"

'til Rudy comes to my house

Keep the Adventure Alive

AT

12-8-1980

Twenty five years ago I was in my dorm room watching the Dolphins-Patriots game. It was an important game for the Fins and had just gone into overtime.

A guy from down the hall stuck his head in our room, "John Lennon was just killed."

I was stunned and didn't believe him. A moment later Howard Cosell interrupted the game with the news.

It was true.

That is one of those "never forget" moments for me.

The Beatles have had a huge impact on my life. As I mentioned previously, our wedding music was almost entirely Lennon-McCartney.

If you read the signatures from my senior year high school annual, almost all of them mention the Beatles. That's how most of them remembered me.

When I run into people from high school today, it's often the first thing they bring up.

It's hard to think about that day without wondering what could have been.

Paul has said that he and John would have written together again. At the time of John's death they were talking, mostly about family things, but that's how relationships are rebuilt.

It's hard to believe twenty five years have passsed.

It's even sadder to realize how far we remain from peace in our world.

Peace be with you John

AT/p>

Holiday Writing

I arrived at Weymouth Wednesday to find that most of the Writer's Quarters has been decorated and has been opened to the public. I knew the house was going to be decorated, I just didn't expect it to come all the way to the back.

I strolled the entire place after closing Wednesday night to take a few pictures. They closed real late after a rockin' party downstairs. The windows were literally rattling to the music. So I took  pictures LATE, and most of them are dark.

The bad thing about the holiday open house is the usable Writer's area has been shrunken to four rooms. I don't suppose it matters, but it hurts a little losing the Writer's Den and the internet connection.

Anyway, this place is really decorated. But I can't show you because most of my pictures are terrible, so I won't post them.

This is the bathroom next to the room I have always stayed in (not this time).

The "rug" on the floor? Leaves. REAL leaves.

Lost more work to do, that's why this post is sooo late.

'til all those people stop walking through to see "If anybody's back here."

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT